The industrial action has interrupted refining and distribution, causing drivers in the Paris region to create enormous lines at gas stations as they attempt to fill up before more pumps run empty.
According to France’s energy ministry, a third of gas stations were short of one or more types of fuel on Monday as fuel strikes continued for the thirteenth day.
Strikes at TotalEnergies and Esso-ExxonMobil refineries and fuel depots have caused gasoline shortages at gas stations around the nation.
The strike action has interrupted refining and delivery, and it comes at a time when employees across Europe are demanding better wages to combat soaring inflation and a crisis in the cost of living.
President Emmanuel Macron of France, whose government is under increasing pressure to act as the strike continues and more gas stations run out of certain supplies, has urged for a swift resolution to the problem.
During a trip to the Mayenne region in western France, Mr. Macron stated: “The negotiations are active and on track…
I hope that this can be fixed within the next several hours. Blocking is not a negotiation strategy.”
Drivers in the Paris region created lengthy lines at gas stations as they attempted to fill up before more pumps ran dry.
Over about two weeks of industrial action, France’s domestic fuel output has decreased by more than 60 percent, causing widespread anxiety as waiting lines lengthen and supplies run out.
A day after TotalEnergies offered to advance pay talks on the condition that the union ends its two-week refineries strike, France’s CGT trade union stated that “this attempt is perceived as blackmail by the CGT and does not guarantee the satisfaction of the expressed demands and, therefore, the return to work.”
An official of the CGT union afterward stated that the strike at the refineries would continue until Tuesday. The union is requesting 10% wage hikes.
More than sixty percent of France’s refining capacity has been shut down as a result of the strikes, driving up diesel costs and prompting the government to boost diesel imports.
France provided strategic fuel reserves for sugar producers on Monday after they warned that a lack of diesel affecting sugar beet harvesting could lead to industrial shutdowns, according to producer organization SNFS.
Tereos, the largest sugar producer in France, announced last month that it had to reduce production at some units after TotalEnergies announced it would be unable to provide diesel. The company refused to comment on the strategic stock announcement.
Sugar plants in France, which typically operate from September until late January or early February, rely on farmers having sufficient fuel to harvest and transport sugar beets.
